So - I woke up at 8 am, got up and fed the cats ... and decided I was still tired and went back to bed. Since I had strained my back yesterday and it was still twinging, I carefully arranged myself flat on my back and started to doze off....

Then Stella cat jumped up to see why I was in bed. After some exploratory sniffs & chirps, she dove under the covers and settled down between my feet and began to nap too.

I started to doze off again ....

Then Sammy cat jumped up yowling at the top of her lungs, walked over my ribs whilst screeching, sniffed my face, and then finally plopped down on my shoulder .....

I started to doze off again ....

When Stella decided to change position and re-settle herself under the covers ....

Then Sammy leaped up screaming "There's something under the bedspread!"

I calmed Sammy down and she went back to sleep on my shoulder.

I started to doze off again ....

Then I abruptly realized something was chewing on my heel and sat up screeching "Stop it!" Which tossed Sammy onto the floor. I extracted Stella and tossed her onto the floor, realized that I was now wide awake and my back was twinging again.

Just to be sure "lg." means large and "c" means cup? We've been using Dutch recipes up until now and the conversion of English measurements can be a bit confusing.

Yes, that's right. Actually, for the tomatoes, I often use a can of diced Italian plum tomatoes. Much easier to locate. And keep in mind that when I cook, I don't usually actually measure things... I don't use measuring spoons or cups, I just approximate ratios as I get too confused by the actual numbers. And sometimes I want more or less garlic, more or less fire vs flavor (from the jalapeno peppers or red or cayenne pepper.) But I figured if I wrote it up as "a handful of flat leaf parsley" or "some cloves of garlic" it might not work as well for you...

Location: The Olympic Peninsula on the OTHER Washington! (the big green clean one on the west coast!)

Device: Kindle, the original! Times Two! and gifting an International Kindle

ok, so my "maybe" funny story...

when I started in Real Estate I took some marketing courses as everything I havve done professionally and academically has nothing to do with selling. one of things we are encouraged to do is market to our "audience" and you need to identify what/who they are. prime candidates are things like church and golfing. my "church" is typically the puppy park and my "golf" is skiing (even though that is kind of on hold due to injuries). Anyway, I started organizing dog activities... "yappy hour, yappy howl-o-ween, yappy new year, mutt strutt, and so on). it has helped me become "known" in the community. I've also gotten pretty involved in the community, serving on several chamber committees, and working (REALLY HARD!) on/with our equivalent of a "main street association", attempting to bring our little town back from obsolescence and revitalizing it. I got them to make my "mutt strutt" (think of easter bonnet parade for dogs) which ties the opening of the farmer's market for the season with all of the downtown merchants by having the dog teams go on a scavenger hunt through the market and participating merchants, ending at a little cafe for awards, networking and fun, an "official" function.
sooooo... there's a realtor at another brokerage that is pretty successful, and also used to do the community involvement. ( I need to back up and point out that I work for a really small brokerage, we are only on the Peninsula, and there are only 6 of our offices, this other broker works for one of the "nationals".) anyway, all of a sudden he showed up at one of the Chamber lunches last month, which made me grumble, and then he showed up at one of our main street meetings. it was the meeting 2 weeks before my "mutt strutt" and I was pushing it. He picked up my flyer and said "Hey! this is a REALLY good idea for getting people downtown! I'll put it up on the door of our Brokerage!" I bit the sides of my cheeks and said thanks! then! the week before the event he stopped me on Brokers Tour (that's when we see all the new houses on the market) and told me (with enthusiasm!) that his brokerage thought it was SUCH a good idea that they put it in their newsletter to all of their clients!!!!

ok, so keep in mind, that this is my marketing concept to meet and interact with possibly new clients, being marketed FOR me by one of the big National Firms....

ok, so keep in mind, that this is my marketing concept to meet and interact with possibly new clients, being marketed FOR me by one of the big National Firms....

funny?
did you have to be there?

No, you're right, that's funny! I see it as one of two scenarios -- either he's REALLY naive, or he is looking at the big picture in which more people downtown ultimately will benefit all the businesses. Or he's just stupid.

Maybe they just don't see you as a real competitor due to the size difference? Perhaps they think that they can benefit a little from being seen to help out with a community event and that that benefit isn't outweighed by a small loss of business to you?

It could be a real situation where everybody wins, and that really would be funny

Right now I'm listening to Cobra Star Ship on Virgin Mobile Live on my phone while I remain on hold since 2:40 waiting for a technician to get my Virgin Mobile Overdrive Pro 4G Hotspot activated. Although I'm discovering that "Virgin Mobile Live" is just the same 30 second techno music clip played over and over until the weaker consumer hangs up in frustration.

Update @ 2:36: The operator finally came back on the line and told me she'd call me back today and get the device activated. They're having a bit of difficulty at the moment because of their "system updates". Wonder if it's the same "system updates" I spoke about in this post?

But I will be online today, because the operator told me so and I believe it.